Dark Ace Gives Atmos Hell!
by Saffronica612
Summary: Song-fic, "Gives You Hell" by the All-American Rejects. A week after betraying the Storm Hawks, Dark Ace looks back on his reasons and, dare he think it, regrets...


Author's Note: I've been writing a lot of song-fics lately, which is kind of random. I listen to the radio in the car, and a song will catch my ear, and I'll think, "Oh, I can see Cyclonis/Dark Ace/Starling/etc thinking this. This would be a fun song-fic!" And, it just kind of comes out.

This one is set about a week after the Dark Ace betrayed the original Storm Hawks. I was thinking, yeah, he's evil, but he might retain just a tad bit of that childhood innocence he had as a Sky Knight. Also, I thought the song fit what might be going through his head. Plus, it's an awesome song!

I don't own the Storm Hawks. "Gives You Hell" is by the All-American Rejects.

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_I wake up every evening_

_With a big smile on my face_

_And it never feels out of place_

The Dark Ace stretched luxuriously in his grand new bed in his grand new room on Cyclonia. Sure, he might be a traitor, but he was a traitor with _style_ now. The opulence of his new surroundings never failed to make him smirk.

There was no cramped quarters, or waiting for the one shower, or 6:00 AM chores. Here on Cyclonia, he could sleep in, he could do whatever he wanted, and he had a maid to clean his room.

Score one for Dark Ace, zero for Atmos.

_And you're still probably working_

_At a nine to five pace_

_I wonder how bad that tastes_

All their talk about honor and duty back at the Sky Knight Academy, and where were all those hypocrites now? Slaving away, trying to stop Cyclonia, when really, it probably wouldn't be as bad as the corrupt thing they called "democracy" which ruled the Atmos.

He was free from their stupid politics. He was free to do what he wanted. He was finally being given the respect he deserved for all his talent and hard work, and it wasn't from the Atmos. They had been too late, and they had lost their best fighter. Take that, stupid world. You didn't know how much you needed him, and now you've lost him. Taste the defeat, the bitterness.

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

He was their hell now, their nightmare. People screamed and ran from his blazing sword. They didn't know what they were losing when they treated him second-class, made him a mere copilot, and now, he had sent them to hell.

_Now where's you picket fence love_

_And where's that shiny car_

_And did it ever get you far_

The Condor wouldn't be getting them far anymore, not while it smoldered in the Wastelands. It wasn't like they'd ever us it, though. They were gone, he had seen to that.

_You never seemed so tense love_

_I've never seen you fall so hard_

_Do you know where you are_

He'd always remember the look on Lightening Strike's face as he had stabbed him with his own sword. That was the look of defeat. That was the look of betrayal. That was the look of his victory.

_And the truth be told I miss you_

_And truth be told I'm lying_

Deep down, he wondered if he regretted what he did. Deep down, he knew he'd miss the clear skies and clean Terras that covered the rest of the Atmos. Deep down, he knew no honest citizen would ever trust him again, or look at him with respect again. Deep down, he knew he'd never call anyone "Friend" again.

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

He lived in hell now. It was a good hell, a fancy hell, but it was hell all the same. No surroundings can allow you to escape your conscience. So instead, he took out all his anger on the Sky Knights he battled. "Why didn't you treasure me?" he thought. "Why did you force me to go to such extremes?" It's easier to push the blame onto others, so he gives them hell.

_If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well_

_Then he's a fool you're just as well_

_Hope it gives you hell_

They would find a new hero, a new Sky Knight. A new naïve fool who thought that goodness and honor and virtues would protect him.

The Dark Ace would take him down.

_Tomorrow you'll be thinking to yourself_

_Where'd it all go wrong?_

_But the list goes on and on_

He hadn't been respected for all his skills. He had been misused. He had been underestimated, undervalued.

The Dark Ace pictured the old Sky Knight Council scratching their balding heads as they discussed him. The list went on and on…

_The truth be told I miss you_

_And truth be told I'm lying_

He missed being the hero. He missed the camaraderie of being a Storm Hawk. He was lying to himself when he said he had no regrets, but there was no turning back now. He had crossed the point of no return, so he might as well enjoy it.

_When you see my face hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

He would give Atmos hell. He would conquer Terras in the name of his new Master. He would shoot down innocents, destroy their property, plunder their cities. He would spread the hell in his heart and mind to the whole world.

_If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well_

_Then he's a fool, you're just as well_

_Hope it gives you hell_

He would take down any fool of a Sky Knight that tried to get in his way, relishing all the hopes he killed along with the new hero. He was giving Atmos hell.

_Now you'll never see_

_What you've done to me_

_You can take back your memories_

_They're no good to me_

Why? Why hadn't they treated him better? In a moment of weakness, he hung his head in his arms, not crying, but gritting his teeth, wishing for tears to come. They had made him a monster, a creature of rage, a murderer.

Memories of kindness, of humanity, of Storm Hawks flashed through his mind. He forced himself to forget them.

He wasn't Ace, the Storm Hawk anymore. He was the Dark Ace, champion of Cyclonia, nightmare of Atmos.

_And here's all your lies_

_You can look me in the eyes_

_With the sad, sad look_

_That you wear so well_

They were the stupid ones, fighting for ideals and rights that they didn't even have. They were the stupid ones, fighting themselves to deny feelings of hate, and anger, that were just and real and just as true as the weaker emotions.

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

He would give them hell for what they'd done to him, for what they'd failed to do.

_If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well_

_Then he's a fool you're just as well_

_Hope it gives you hell_

He'd take down all the puny Sky Knights they could throw at him.

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_Hope it gives you hell_

He would give them hell. He would look down at pleading innocents with no mercy in his crimson eyes. He would give them hell.

_When you hear this song and sing along_

_And never tell_

_Then you're the fool_

_I'm just as well_

_Hope it gives you hell_

_When you hear this song_

_I hope that it will give you hell_

_You can sing along_

_I hope that it puts you through hell_

Everyone felt the darker desires such as him, the desires to renounce stupid, restraining moral codes and truly live life to the fullest. They all felt the same as him, but they tried to hide it, and put on the good mask. They were the fools.

And he would give them, he would give all of Atmos, hell.

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So, how do you like it? (Hint: hit the "Review Chapter/Story" Button below and tell me!)

A/N: The Dark Ace is mainly addressing all of Atmos. I'm also not trying to imply that he had any sort of relationship with Lightening Strike beyond Sky Knight/squaddie and friendship. I know that the lyrics in the song say "love," and I wanted to make a note that that's just in the song! Also, the "Sky Knight fool" being referred to is not Aerrow, it's whatever Sky Knight was considered the best of the Sky Knights before Dark Ace killed him/her. After all, the Dark Ace did defeat more Sky Knights than anyone before he fought Aerrow.


End file.
